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Three-part series: To live and die in Wales, Alaska

For Mike Weyapuk, his short and tragic life in many ways tracked the horrific history and loss of his Bering Strait village of Wales, once one of the largest Native settlements in Alaska.

Mike’s life and death, as well as the story of one of Alaska’s most historic villages, puts a face on the troubles -- suicide, sexual abuse, family violence, alcoholism, unresolved grief, mental illness and racism -- that have all too long plagued many of our communities.

For many readers, Mike’s death simply adds to the horrifically high statistics of suicide in Alaska. For others, he was a son, a brother, a relative, a neighbor, and a friend.

Seven years after 26-year-old Mike Weyapuk died at the far northwest corner of North America, his story and that of his Inupiat village of Wales are still emblematic of Alaska's most horrific problems.